Jesus is. Luke is writing to help people be sure of the truth about Jesus life death and resurrection

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1 Luke 5:17-26 The Truth about who Jesus is Luke is writing to help people be sure of the truth about Jesus life death and resurrection Context Chapter 5 is in the section which begins in chapter 4:14 and runs to 9:50 which charts Jesus Galilean ministry. In Luke 5:1-11 we see Jesus starting to call people. This is a theme which continues into the following verses. Peter initially thinks that because of his sin he can have nothing to do with Jesus. However Jesus continues to associate with sinners. What the following verses show is that Jesus can actually do something about sin. Firstly he cleanses a leper (which the priest couldn t do hence Jesus sending the man to the priest as if to emphasise the point). In the surrounding verses we also see that there is conflict (or at least comparison) between Jesus and the Jewish leaders (5:14; 5:17; 5:30, 5:33-38). What we are shown is Jesus doing what the law pointed to but was not able to actually accomplish. Notes on the verses: In verse the scene is set for the main action which will takes place in verses The verses introduce the characters and the situation. Firstly we are introduced to two groups who are close allies (they are so closely associate we may think of them as one group) 1. - Pharisees. The Pharisees were a non-priestly lay separatist religious group. One of their goals was to call the nation to be faithful to the Mosaic Law. This desire came from a conviction that the Babylonian exile came about because of people s failure to keep the law. They identified as many laws as possible. Around these laws they created a hedge of other laws so that there was no possibility of breaking the law. 1 Luke emphasis on this combine group creates a slightly different emphasis from Mark who just focuses on many people (Mark 2:2).

2 - Teachers of the Law More often in the gospels this group are called the scribes. The teachers of the law supported the development of these hedge laws. Their role was to apply the law into new situations. They functioned like religious parliamentarians for the sect and were Pharisees themselves (Bock 1994, 479) 2. This group had gathered from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. This geographic reference shows that they came from a large area, and points to the influence that Jesus was having at the time. This religious group were so curious of this man Jesus that they had travelled to hear what he would say (notice that they are sitting listening to Jesus teaching (v17). At this point there is no negative view formed of the Pharisees. We are also told that the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. This at first glance seems a rather curious statement. It seems best to understand that Jesus has power from God which enables him to heal. There is no need to read this statement as meaning that power came and went. Highlighting this fact for us as readers, Luke prepares us for what is to come in two ways. i. We expect Jesus to heal someone from sickness. How he does this will be a surprise when we get to it the sickness he heals from is sin (v20). ii. It presents Jesus as different from the religious authorities who are unable to heal anyone let alone forgive their sins. This is a theme you see in verse 5:12-16 and in what follows. The second group we are introduced to is a group of friends. Included in this group is a man who is paralysed and lying on a mat. We are told their intention is to bring the man before Jesus. The problem for the group of friends is that they are unable to get into the house because of the crowd. Undaunted they persist in finding a way to Jesus. Luke gives much detail at this point - They go up onto the roof - They lower the man on his mat (they would have had to rig a way to lower the mat) - Through the tiles - Into the middle of the crowd 3 All of this shows their determination to get their friend to Jesus. The reason for their determination is found in verse 20; here we are told Jesus sees their faith. This is generally assumed to be the faith of the friends, yet there is no reason to assume that it doesn t also apply to the man himself (it is easy assume that the paralysed man was unwilling or at least indifferent). Faith in this context seems to be the belief that in Jesus this man s need can be met. In Luke so far we have seen that Jesus has proclaimed the year of the Lord s favour (Luke 4:19). These men have faith in that and so bring their friend to Jesus as the place where there help is to be found (they know that Jesus has God s power to heal). Thus their faith explains their determination. 2 Although most were Pharisees not all were, and as a group they remained distinct. 3 This shows that there are more than just the Pharisees and teachers of the law present.

3 Verse 20 What Jesus says here is the centre of the narrative. In the original the form of the verb is in the perfect tense which draws attention to the verb and so the verse. The rest of the narrative bears that out. We will see the religious leaders reacting against Jesus claim and Jesus explaining and proving his ability. Thus the main question about this passage is whether Jesus can forgive sins. In speaking of his sins we are not told if Jesus is referring to specific or the general condition of sinfulness common to all mankind. While it is possible that there was a specific sin which caused the paralysis we should be cautious about making such a claim. Jesus statement in John 9:2-3 makes this clear; in responding to a question about who sinned that a man was born blind, Jesus responds neither. Jesus words in Luke 13:1-5 also bear this out. Therefore in the absence of any particular explanation about a specific sin we should take it to refer to the sin which is common to all (and which in a general sense affects us all in different ways, for this man in his paralysis). Jesus proclaims that the sins are forgiven. The word means to release from legal or moral obligation or consequence. Jesus is proclaiming that this man is being released from the consequence of his sin. Luke (and Jesus) presents everyone as a sinner. It is surprising that Jesus proclaims forgiveness of sins. As readers we expect Jesus to heal because of verse 17. What we are to see though is that forgiveness of sin is a healing. When introducing his ministry in chapter 4 Jesus claims he came to set people free from bondage. The things which he sets people free of are all related to sinfulness. And in the next passage Jesus will say that the sick need a doctor (that is a person to heal them). In the context of that passage the sick he is referring to are tax collectors and sinners. Jesus is proclaiming that his healing has to do with healing from sin. Verse 21 Immediately Luke turns our attention to the Pharisees and teachers of the law. The Pharisees and scribes respond theologically to what Jesus has done. They are making two judgement which help to explain each other. i. Who is this who speaks blasphemy? ii. Who can forgive sins except God alone? Blasphemy was a serious charge which according to the Old Testament could result in someone being stoned to death (Lev 24:10-16). In general blasphemy is an action or word which devalues another person or being living or dead 4. The New Bible dictionary speaks of blasphemy in the Old Testament saying: Here the root meaning of the word is an act of effrontery in which the name of God is insulted by man 5. The reason that the charge is made is because the Pharisees consider forgiveness of sin an action undertaken by God alone.. They see Jesus claiming a divine prerogative 4 Blasphemy in The Evangelical Dictionary of theology. 5 Blasphemy in New Bible Dictionary

4 and therefore violating God s majesty by taking to himself something reserved for God (Bock 1994, 483) 6. Verse 22 Jesus responds to their reasoning. He begins by asking why they are thinking these things in their hearts? Presumably they think Jesus is just a man who has no authority to forgive sins. This is a vitally important question, for if Jesus cannot forgive sins then he has been incredibly cruel to this man. If we do not think that Jesus has authority to forgive sins then there are two responses. Either we will not be strong on evangelism. If Jesus cannot meet peoples greatest need then why tell them he does. On the other hand if we are not convinced of Jesus ability and we do tell them the gospel then it is the worst possible deceit. Convincing people that they are sinners and having nothing to offer is incredibly cruel. Verse 23 Jesus asks them another question. He wants to know what is easier to say: your sins are forgiven or get up and walk. The question assumes that it easier to say something that cannot be visually proven. So for the people in the crowds perspective for Jesus to say your sins are forgiven seems easy. From the crowds perspective to say get up and walk is harder as it will be immediately verifiable. Verse 24 Jesus introduces a purpose clause which prepares the way for what he is about to do. He says he wants them to know that he has authority. The Pharisees think he blasphemes by doing something he shouldn t, yet he wants to show he can do what he said. If he can say to the man get up and walk then that will prove his ability to forgive sins. So he says to the paralysed man to get up and take your mat and go home. Jesus is saying the seemingly harder thing. The man responded immediately by doing what Jesus had said to do. In addition to doing the three things Jesus told him, he went home praising God. Luke often includes a note that in response to healing people go home praising God. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2:20 NIB) He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. (Luke 4:15 NIB) They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." (Luke 7:16 NIB) 6 Passages which speak of God forgiving sin: Exodus 34:6; Psalm 103:2, Jeremiah 31:34.

5 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. (Luke 13:13 NIB) One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. (Luke 17:15 NIB) Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God. (Luke 18:43 NIB) The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." (Luke 23:47 NIB) After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. (Acts 4:21 NIB) "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said:`john baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.' 17 So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?" 18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life." (Acts 11:15-18 NIB) When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. (Acts 21:20 NIB) Verse 25 The events amaze the people causing them to go home praising God. They also note the surprising nature of the day s events. This was no ordinary occurrence which the people see before them. Structure 5:17-19 The characters introduced and the scene set 5:20 A claim to forgive sins 5:21 An accusation of blasphemy 5:22-26 Jesus proves he has the ability to forgive sins.

6 Themes: Jesus Ability to Forgive Sins This is the biggest theme of the passage. Jesus claim to forgive sins is met with an accusation of blasphemy. This leads to Jesus wanting to show that he has authority to forgive sins on earth. This has to be reflected in the way we teach the passage. There are a number of other themes which are present although not the main thing: Mankind s Need The fact that Jesus first and most importantly forgives the man sin points to mankind s greatest need. In the early chapters of Luke we have seen that Jesus came to save his people. As we have gone on we see that what we need saving from is our sins. Conflict with the Pharisees and Scribes Luke draws our attention to these religious leaders. This is the first time that we see them in Luke, as the story progressing we will see their opposition and hostility to Jesus grow. In chapter 5 one of the things we see is Jesus doing what the religious could not do. He is able to cleanse a leper (5:12-16) and forgive sins (5:17-31). In each instance the religious have nothing to offer to those who are sinners. The Faith of the Friends The friends exemplify how we should respond to Jesus. We should come to him and we should bring our friends to him. Jesus is the one who is able to forgive sins and when we are convinced of this our natural reaction will be like the friends. Purpose Statement Know for certain that Jesus has authority to forgive sins.